Gilas Pilipinas celebrates semifinal win over China in the 19th Asian Games. –POOL PHOTO
Gilas Pilipinas looks to end a six decades long gold medal drought in the Asian Games when it faces Jordan in the men’s basketball final in Hangzhou, China on Friday.
The last time the Philippines won gold in the continental meet was in the Jakarta 1962 Games, while the country’s last podium finish was in 1998 in Bangkok when the RP Centennial Team finished bronze.
Current Gilas coach Tim Cone, the PBA’s winningest mentor, was also part of that run 25 years ago.
On their way to the final, the Filipinos took the longer route–needing a qualification game to advance to the KO phase after finishing second in the preliminaries. Their lone loss came at the hands of Jordan, 87-62, led by PBA import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who has been turning heads since the Fiba World Cup.
Gilas ousted Qatar and Iran to set up a semifinal match against China, which it also beat 77-76 behind a stunning comeback effort from 20 points down on Wednesday.
The gold medal game is on Friday, 8pm, at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Asian Games men’s basketball final: Gilas Pilipinas vs Jordan
